Google App Engine introduces experimental Java 7 runtime support

Following a short winter break, the Google App Engine team have
returned to their monthly release cycle, with the
1.7.5 update to the cloud platform.

The biggest feature from a Java developer standpoint is the
overdue introduction of ‘experimental support’ for the Java 7
runtime. The team had
previously detailed Java 7 SDK features back in October to test
the waters, before opting offering formal runtime support this
month.

There are three ways in which you can configure Java 7
support: in thecommand line, configuringEclipseor by altering theMaven configuration file. GAE users can
finally utilise some of Java 7’s features, including the ability to
use strings in switch statements and the invokedynamic
functionality.

Google say the Java 6 runtime will be decommissioned “in a
future release”, but are keen to stress the importance of the term
‘experimental’ as well, strongly encouraging local and production
testing for all existing applications before using Java 7 support.
Not all classes are supported, as detailed on the
Java Class Whitelist.

Another experimental feature in 1.7.5 is the introduction of
Google Cloud Endpoints, allowing users to expose their code as
RESTful services. This in turn, allows developers to create a
backend for web and mobile clients, such as iOS and Android.

Elsewhere, an update to the
Google Plugin for Eclipse enables users to build GAE backends that
can communicate with client side Android applications. For further
information on the release, check out therelease
notes.